Shu
by Dreaming of a Black Fox
Summary: He was pretty sure he was a deadman. But that kid with the blinding red scarf made him not-dead, and Scarf Kid reminded him vaguely of Kakashi…who is supposed to be dead.
1. Silver Coin

**WARNINGS: TRIGGER WARNING, Colorblind!TB!Kakashi, depressed!Pseudobulbar-Affect(PBA)!Obito, time travel, dark themes, suicidal thoughts, character death, violence, blood and dark themes. Did I mention dark themes? Please understand that this is a vent story. If anything is triggering, don't read.**

* * *

 **Original title:** Shu

 **Rated:** MA (M)

 **Original summary:** He was pretty sure he was a deadman. But that kid with the blinding red scarf made him not-dead, and Scarf Kid reminded him vaguely of Kakashi. Who is supposed to be dead.

 **Four main genres:** Supernatural, Action, Angst, & Hurt/Comfort.

 **Pairings:** MinaKushi & offscreen!ObiRin (later).

 **Recommended songs:** Breathe Me by Sia (Butch Clancy remix), Little Talks, Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men & Icarus by Pompeii.

* * *

 **I don't really have anything to say. But I'll just say something anyway.**

 **That awkward moment when you find a dead raccoon in your car after you leave the windows open for a full week… (this really happened to me. I told my teacher that excuse when I was late that Friday, and she said that it was "the most wildest excuse I've ever heard". Wait until I pull a Hatake on her.)**

 **The banner above is just something new I'm trying. Sigh, it's a slight pain, but it may or may not stay.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Maybe.**

 **Original chapter word count: 3.9k~**

 **Enjoy my I-guess-you-could-call-it-downcast chapter :,p**

* * *

 _Chapter 1: Silver Coin_

* * *

It was a rare moment for Namikaze Minato. He was a ninja—a dignified one; though he wasn't _too_ dignified. Just enough to remain human. He was starting to create a reputation of his own, and, slowly, he was becoming feared. He didn't really think much of it, the occasional wave from people was becoming a daily occurrence when he took a walk or went out with his three man team.

(Kakashi had died barely a week ago in a mission saving Rin and Obito; he died with a hole in his chest in a collapsing cave, and while it was a painful death, it was dignified the way he left. The rest of Team Minato were slowly rebuilding themselves, and as expected, it was slow. But then again, they were just starting.)

He was terrified when his student died, albeit mainly because he wasn't fast enough. The other reason was because of how easily things went downhill. True, he was stubborn, but never had a mission gone that far downhill under his command. It was actually the very first time someone under his command died; he was very careful when leading.

But now…now he was just fucking scared shitless. Maybe it was because half of his squad was either dead or dying. It could've been because of how badly injured he was. Possibly how close to death he feels. Or how much it hurt to be held up by the throat. The Iwa-nin doing said action had a triumphed smirk. An ugly, nasty, blood-covered one at that. _Flesh_ was stuck in between his teeth, a crazy look flashing in his pale blue eyes.

The Iwa-nin chuckled evilly— _insanely_. "Fucking _pathetic_!" he laughed. "You Konoha-nin are so _easy_ to kill! Hah!"

He squeezed harder, making Minato's grip on the mans wrist tighten. He was slowly losing consciousness and blood loss, and for a moment he thought about letting go. But it was quickly dismissed; he had a pretty fiancé waiting at home, and two broken students to fix. Not to mention, he had a war to win.

In a ditch for last effort, he yanked out a kunai, sloppily slashing across the mans wrist. And while the insane ninja winced, he made no movement of letting go. But he glared—and the glare promised _lots_ of pain.

Pain Minato did receive, as the man lifted him higher, and slamming the blonde down onto the rocky ground, creating a crater and making Minato cry out in pain. He heard a crack, and the world around him became distant in sight and sound. He coughed, choking for air as the mans grip tightened.

"Aw, c'mon!" the man chaffed—taunted, jeered, ridiculed, derided. "Where's the pathetic _plead_ to live, hmm?!" Minato simply glared. "Ha, you're stubborn! I like you. The stubborn types always take the nastiest ways out. Heh."

His grin widened, squeezing harder and harder until Minato's hands finally decided to stop clawing at the mans arms. They fell to the side, and he nearly blacked out; the man had let go at the last second, and allowed him to breathe fully. He took the chance, and sucked in a deep breath of air, coughing and rubbing his throbbing neck (a bruise was bound to form sooner or later, and it is gonna _hurt_ ).

Minato was too busy finally being able to find the ability to consume oxygen to notice the man pulling out a kunai, raising his arm. He brought said arm down, the blonde finally taking notice as the action was pulled. His brilliant cerulean eyes widened in shock. He scrambled up, the kunai only hitting his thigh as he got out of the crater. A killer headache followed him, and he fell to a knee, holding the back of his head and growling in pain.

The Iwa-nin laughed loudly. He dashed forward, his large hand reaching out for the blonde. But the man was blocked by another person (much more smaller; a young teen, possibly?) with lightning sparkling in his hand. The larger mans eyes widened, but he was already too close to dodge: The lightning dug through his flesh, hitting his heart, and killing him instantaneously.

The man— _how old is he?_ Minato wondered absently—raised his other arm, pushing the corpse off of his arm and onto the ground, whipping his hand to get loose blood off. He wore a black Konoha shinobi outfit—minus the Uzumaki swirl—with zori. Makimono's were sewed to his upper arms, and he had a really bright red scarf that could make even a colorblind man cringe. Probably not. But emphasizing can be exaggerated.

The man had black messy hair that shagged down underneath his scarf, and metal plated gloves with blood soaked in them. The boy turned, and looked at Minato with lazy and dull eyes. Half of his face was covered by said bright red scarf, and quite frankly, it was annoying. He gave Minato an odd look, his eyes curving up in a smile. "You can rest now," he assured. "There are no more threats."

The Namikaze narrowed his eyes, ignoring the dizziness and need for rest. "And how do I know you aren't going to kill me?" he questioned.

"If I were to wish for your death, you would've been dead long before this bastard even _thought_ about charging you with that kunai," the boy stated apathetically. "And what kind of assassin wears bright red?"

The blonde paused at that. The kid had a point, but he used chakra like a ninja, and ninjas deceive as well as cheat. The brat was heading on to the road of deception. _Is_ on the road of deception. The blonde shakily stood, making said boy sigh.

"I don't mean any harm. Really," he stated. "So can't we all just go home and sleep? I'm tired. And I wanna read my book…"

Minato stared at the teen, who he decided to be around fourteen or fifteen. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out said teen, and failing miserably. He ignored his wounds, his dizziness, and rushed forward, pulling a kunai out of his pouch and aiming for his throat. The teen squeaked in alarm, ducking and covering his head with his hands in a non-shinobi manner. Minato's foot was only inches from the boys shins, and he made no sudden movement—aside from his panting and slight swaying.

"Ow…" the boy whispered.

The blonde looked down, and saw that said boy was holding his chest in pain. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was silently muttering curses. Minato blinked. "You're…injured. What happened?"

The teenager grunted weakly, pain lacing in his voice as he spoke, "You obviously don't trust me…"

Minato sighed, getting out of his stance. He was this close to the potential enemy; if he wasn't attacking, he wasn't here to kill him. Slowly, he sat down in front of the boy, sighing heavily and tiredly. "True…I don't trust you," Minato said, making the kid flinch and making him silently question that. "But I _just_ met you. I don't even know your name, let alone _why_ you saved me. Or why you're wearing Konoha ninja wear."

The boy winced again, groaning and hiding his head in his knees. "My name is Ginka," he mumbled, "and is it wrong to save…c-comrades…?"

"Comrades?" Minato questioned, quirking a brow. "Kid, I haven't seen you around the village, let alone do I see you wearing a Konoha _headband_."

Ginka grunted weakly, wincing from the pain it caused. He slowly lifted his eyes, orbs glazed over with memories. "Hmm," he murmured tiredly. "My parents were Konoha shinobi. But…they died…I just left because…of reminders. Y'know?"

Minato blinked, slowly nodding with a sympathetic and understanding expression. He was going through the same exact thing as well. Everywhere he looked, he painfully remembered Kakashi. The many moments they got into verbal arguments, the many moments he trained and helped them through their difficulties as a team…the many moments they _wouldn't_ have in the future. It hurt to be reminded of his failure and not being able to save Kakashi in time.

But it was still suspicious.

 _And speaking of hurt…_ he thought bitterly. "Do you have any medical supplies, by any chance?" _I can't believe I'm asking this._

Ginka slowly nodded. "I know Shōsen Jutsu," he murmured, "but I can't keep it up for longer than five minutes. You'll still have to go to a hospital…"

"That's fine," he replied sheepishly. "Better than dying here…" _…and possibly to your hands…_

Ginka simply nodded, getting out of his crouched position. He tipped his head as he made his way to Minato's side. "Lay down," he said, narrowing his eyes. "It'll make it easier for you to heal."

Minato simply nodded, lying down. He felt the familiar ticklish feeling of Shōsen Jutsu as Ginka instantly started performing the jutsu, helping his gut wound first. It stayed like that for a good three minutes in comfortable silence, before Ginka moved his hands to the throbbing bruise on his neck. Once again, the world was still as he healed that specific part of his injuries for thirty seconds before stopping the jutsu all together.

"I would highly recommend getting a days rest before you leave," Ginka said wisely. "Your gut would isn't fatal; the bruise on your neck isn't worrying, either, but I would highly recommend giving it support while it heals. Your concussion, from what I can see, is only mild. I would recommend healing that up ASAP, but I'm not really all that good with heads and stuff, so…" He shrugged, "Unless you want me to close the wound."

Minato nodded. "That would be great," he stated half to himself. He slowly sat up, ignoring the wooziness. He felt Shōsen Jutsu once more, relief settling in as the wound slowly closed up enough to not shed anymore blood.

By the time he was finished up, Ginka looked like he was ready to collapse. He looked at Minato, and gave the man an eye smile. "Anyways…" he drawled, "I need to go. Bye."

The blonde blinked dumbly, watching as the dark haired teen stood up, turned away, and promptly took his leave. "Uh…bye…?" he mumbled. "Thank you, by the way."

"Mm-hmm." A lazy wave later, and Ginka was gone.

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was a survivor, in all honesty. He never truly lived; he was either killing, reading or sleeping off painkillers after being injured during a mission. And then when he became a sensei, he was either teaching, killing, reading or sleeping after dealing with a bunch of stress the once-brats caused.

The Fourth War came around, and he had a foreboding feeling that they were going to lose. Miserably. True, they seemed to have the upper hand (keyword: _Seemed_ ) the first fight, but then Madara retreated, went into hiding, and left the alliance much more crumbled than expected. Recuperation was ridiculous. Obito, Sasuke and Orochimaru had a harsh time (Orochimaru gains no sympathy).

During that recuperation, Madara attacked, killing off another chunk of the weaker part of the alliance; that included Tsunade, who was—at the time—in a coma. So they hid in another place, another area to be stained with blood.

And it was more like soaked with blood after the last attack.

After that happened, the only Kage's that remained were A and Gaara. Bee, Darui, Gai, Konoha 12, Tenten, Lee, Obito, and himself were the other remaining survivors, which was…sad.

Hope plummeted when they lost Gaara, Darui, and Bee in the fourth battle all at once. Gai protected Naruto, died in the process—Lee followed after protecting _Kakashi_ from a Gudōdama aimed for his heart.

Tenten died in that same battle, too. She died to protect a wounded Sasuke, though she admitted she wanted to die before leaving after she watched the last remains of her team die.

Not too much later, most of Konoha 12 bit the dust after Madara released a portion of his Jūbi power as an explosion in hopes of killing the rest of his opponents off. A fell into a coma, and never woke up after that same battle. All that remained after that was Team Seven, Orochimaru and Obito. Orochimaru hid, and the five remaining ninja went into deeper hiding.

They managed to save their skins and hide for about five years before Kakashi himself bit the dust. He remembered it quite clearly, too. It was painful—bloody, but worth it, because he had died a hero's death…well, in his opinion at least. He saved Obito.

That was enough.

 _"Hn. You think you can beat me?" Madara asked Naruto smugly. He grinned, his dōjutsu fluctuating with power as he used Rinbo: Hengoku to manifest a clone._

 _Naruto, from where he was pinned down with a strong tendril of Mokuton, stared with eyes wide with horror and dismay as his head whipped towards Obito and Sasuke, who were both badly injured and being healed by Sakura simultaneously. "Shit. Obito! Watch out!" he screamed._

 _For a second, the world seemed to slow down. Kakashi was standing not too far from them, stuck in between Naruto and Obito. He narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth, clenched his jaw, sucked up all doubts and jumped in front of the Uchiha. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stared in shock as the Hengoku clone's invisible arm punched its way through Kakashi's chest, blood spilling and pain shooting through the silver haired jōnin's entire body._

 _He gagged on blood, said blood staining his mask as the arm was pulled out, Madara scoffing and panting. (They had been fighting for many hours straight, using chakra-expending jutsu. And while Madara had a helluva lot of chakra, some of the jutsu used too much mental strength, which he didn't exactly have.)_

 _The omnipotent Uchiha growled something out, and took his leave in a bout of speed. But the opposing shinobi didn't bother. Naruto broke out of the wood piece, the Kyūbi's chakra rushing through his coils as he rushed to catch his sensei._

 _The Hatake was too numb with pain to notice, though. Sounds around him were practically gone, and his world was slowly turning black. He felt the familiar tickle of Shōsen Jutsu against his skin, but it was vague, distant and almost nonexistent. He couldn't breathe; he was loosing blood at an alarmingly fast rate, and everything was just pain. Pain pain pain pain pain. He was numb with pain. He was dying with pain. He was in this predicament_ because _of pain. He was causing pain to others by closing his eyes…_

 _He felt cold hands on his masked cheeks, a familiar muffled and blocked voice calling out to him. Slowly, he opened his eye, keeping his Sharingan eye closed. The world around him was darkened and blurry, being clouded with pain. He saw Obito's face, tears falling onto his mask._

 _"Why'd you do that?" he asked. And while Kakashi didn't exactly hear the words he spoke, he could read his friends lips._

To return the favor _, he wanted to say, but the words never came properly. They just came out as a bloody, gurgled choke. So instead, he offered a weak eye smile._

 _He breathed out, ignoring the strain and all of the pain one breath caused. He turned his head towards Naruto, giving an apologetic look to the twenty-two year old. The Uzumaki look dumbfounded, his face mixing with confusion and grief. His lips pressed together in a tight line, tears streaming down his face. "Why are you looking at me like that?_ I _should be sorry…"_

 _Kakashi felt bitter amusement rise, giving his student one last eye smile before he just stopped breathing all together, his senses dulling and leaving him along with his thoughts._

He frowned at the memory, plopping onto the tree branch that hung over a tall cliff over a forest. He had dropped his Henge a little while ago; this place was a place nobody knew of. Well, not _yet_ anyway. During the war, they used it as a hideout. But Madara promptly destroyed it.

Nobody died here, though, so he felt no need to _not_ be here. And besides, it was a good hiding spot. Civilians and bandits avoided it like the plague because it held lots of Orochimaru's failed experiments. Shinobi avoided it, too, because they were either too scared, too paranoid, too injured or too close to death coming back from a mission.

 _And speaking of too close to death…_ he thought bitterly as he rubbed his sore and aching chest. _Piece of crap still hasn't healed…_

He had woken up to being healed by Rin in the middle of a forest with both of them being pretty beat up after he died in the Fourth War. Obito had joined a little bit later, Rin patching him up as well. Then they reviewed their mission—their first assassination mission.

("What the fuck?" was the very first thing Kakashi grumbled when the mission was briefed over.)

It was low ranked, because it was a lowly bunch of bandits they had kill, but there had been an A-ranked ninja at their disposal; they had sent said A-ranked on the team of four, and had managed to split Minato from the three chūnin. The B-rank turned into an A-on-the-verge-of-S-ranked mission.

The three had been backed into a cave barely a day after their recuperation finished—which was nearly three days long—and got locked into a battle with the A-ranked shinobi and bandits. The bandits were the easy kill, but the ninja was…troublesome—credit goes to the Nara Clan.

He struck Kakashi down with a pretty damn strong punch to the temple, and left the Kage-level-turned-chūnin-brat with a severe concussion. But honestly, he had gained worse, if being punched through the chest said anything. The Iwa-nin with crazy strength aimed for a kunai to the gut with Obito, but Kakashi had gotten off his ass and got in the way quickly enough to block the attack with his body.

Once again, he had saved Obito.

The kunai had gone through and through, created a gaping hole in the center of his chest. Obito had went on a rampage, both him and Minato easily cutting down the shinobi while also making the cave collapse (Kamui is still pretty damn ruthless). The rest of the team left, and he was left behind as a "corpse". Of course, Obito wanted to bring said corpse with them, but couldn't, because boulders were already crashing down.

And by some miracle, he survived.

He didn't how, or why it happened, but he pulled Shōsen Jutsu out of his ass, healed the hole in his chest, and sewed up the other gaping flesh wounds. The hole in his chest he let heal naturally, and it was still closing. Any sudden movement really hurt, and labored breathing hurt anymore.

He looked out to the grey world descending before him. He didn't know why he couldn't see any colors, or why it happened, it just did. The only color that popped up—and popped up like black against white—was red. Any shade of red, he discovered. He was walking through a town, and he saw a female toddler in a pink attire walking down the street. The rest of her had been grey.

He sighed, only taking in a shallow breath to savor pain for another time. The world was seen in grey—red was the only true thing he saw.

…Yeah, pretty deep.

* * *

Minato sighed heavily, flopping onto his bed and groaning in exhaustion and pain at the pillow. The three full days he spent in the hospital was so boring. And while he never really came to hate hospitals to the consent Kushina did (and still does), he doesn't enjoy his stays. Rin and his fiancé had hovered over him and Obito sulked because he "missed out on all of the action." And while it was said in a depressing mood, the old Obito was still in there.

The Uchiha had changed in more ways than one; and not just because of Kakashi's death. Said boy had become more paranoid, and looked at everybody like they were about to spirited away the moment he turned his eyes to something else—both physically and metaphorically. He also had a certain grief and despair that could be seen in his eyes. It was much more worse than what any normal death could cause, no matter what.

Minato has seen it in Konoha shinobi; the eyes of the person who has lost everything. Family (if they had any in the first place), friends, physical and mental capabilities, happiness, life…themselves…

Rin was recovering, thankfully. She smiled, but it wasn't bright. When Obito smiled, it was bitter and etched with depression, albeit he had smiled genuinely ever now and then over the ten days. Surprisingly quick recover, if he could say so himself.

Kushina flopped onto the bed next to him, only she was on her back. "I know that groan," she said teasingly. "What's bothering you, my dear over-dramatic lovely?"

Minato groaned again, turning his head so then he was looking at Kushina. He had a slight pout, and an irked expression. "Everything's wrong," he grumbled. "Kakashi's dead, Obito's getting autism and may need anti-depressants pretty damn soon, and then the world in general is just being…the bitch of attention." _And then there is Scarf Kid._

She blinked, giving him a dead panned look. "…I know Obito's depressed and all, but seriously, you're just overreacting…" she grumbled. "He'll survive. He won't go ahead and try to commit suicide or anything."

His mouth twisted in a frown. "I don't know," he grumbled. "I've been watching those two very closely, and Obito isn't doing too well."

"I hear a rant coming."

"It's like he isn't even _trying_ to collect himself. Have you seen the look in his eyes when he looks at us? We aren't _ghosts_ …we're _living_. And have you seen how paranoid he is? And-and then he's lacking normal reaction to certain things…fuck. Do you think he's tipping? I hope not…I mean, Rin is healing perfectly fine, and it's slow as expected, but Obito isn't even _trying_! He's also getting thinner. Is he becoming anorexic, too? He better not…I'll kick his scrawny ass…" He buried his face into the covers again, "And then I'm gonna revive Kakashi and kick _his_ scrawny, cocky lil' pale ass…"

Kushina sighed, rubbing his back. Mirth sparkled in her eyes, but there was still a level of seriousness as she soaked in his words. "…This calls for a party. With _lots_ of ramen. And cake. And sake. Let's go shopping, dattebane!"

Minato's groaning didn't stop the entire way.

When they finished their shopping spree for the little four-man party Kushina was planning, Minato was just about done. He flopped face first onto the couch, groaning again. Kushina simply laughed at his misery, unpacking the groceries and putting them all in their spots. She smiled. "Go to bed."

"If I do, you may or may not do something stupid and burn the house down in the process," Minato grumbled.

"Ow. My pride," she said in mock. She sighed, obviously amused as she rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. We can do the party tomorrow night. Besides, the cake will be done by then dattebane…"

"You were _serious_ about that?" he groaned out.

"Yes. Now, shoo. Bed. I don't want an over-exhausted Blondie dragging his feet around the house complaining about the sun and thanking the clouds for shutting it out," Kushina snapped.

Minato groaned again, rolling off of the couch and onto the ground with a thud. He slowly sat up, mumbling curses before disappearing down the hall to their shared bedroom. The Uzumaki smiled, and started humming as she started pulling out ingredients for salt-broiled saury.

* * *

 **"Shu": "Vermillion"**

 **"Ginka": "Silver coin"**

 **"Shōsen Jutsu": "Mystical Palm Technique"**

 **Sigh. Shit day. Power went out three times, my phone got ran over by a car on that stupid highway, and my aunts mother died crossing yet again another highway. VERY shitty day, indeed. I hate funerals, ya know? Too depressing.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **And yet, here I am, making an erratic amount of angst fanfictions. I never write this shit this often.**

 **…But my cousin was born today…**

 **…What a conflicting date this is.**

 **Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cry in a corner because of this reality check.**

 **Peace! :3**


	2. Contemplation

**Original title:** Shu

 **Rated:** MA (M)

 **Original summary:** He was pretty sure he was a deadman. But that kid with the blinding red scarf made him not-dead, and Scarf Kid reminded him vaguely of Kakashi. Who is supposed to be dead.

 **Four main genres:** Supernatural, Action, Angst,  & Hurt/Comfort.

 **Pairings:** MinaKushi  & offscreen!KakaRin (later).

 **Recommended songs:** 10,000 by Kick The Habit, Breathe Me by Sia (Butch Clancy remix), Little Talks, Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men  & Icarus by Pompeii.

* * *

 **I changed the warnings and stuff because I have decided that this is a vent story. I also added one or two songs and changed the pairings. No ObiRin. My resolve for the ending is here, just the ladder to get to it is still being built.**

 **Jleath123: Naruto will only be mentioned in this story with very little interaction. Thanks for your review. :3**

 **nurr: Thank you! :3**

 **KaiaRenkin: Thank you! Here's chapter two. :3**

 **Original word count: 3.3k~**

 **Enjoy :p**

* * *

 _Chapter 2: Contemplation_

* * *

Coal grey eyes stared darkly in the reflection, dead with exhaustion and blank. Pale white skin made black hair pop out more than it should, a frail body making his look worse. His clothing was unkempt and dark circles outlined the bottoms of his eyelids.

Uchiha Obito turned his head away from the kitchen window, staring down at the cup of cold green tea he prepared nearly two hours ago. He wasn't entirely sure why he was still sitting around and doing absolutely nothing, but he just wouldn't move.

He was both physically and emotionally exhausted. He was hungry. He needed sleep. He needed to shower. He needed to leave for the next team mission that was gonna take place in about fifteen minutes. He _needed_ to—

— _stop_ , he thought darkly. He needed to—no…he _wanted_ to stop. To just stop thinking and remembering, to stop living and inflicting all sorts of wounds on others…and on himself.

But watching Kakashi die under his watch— _twice_ —was a bit too much.

After all, getting where he was just seemed to have happened all at the spur of the moment.

He remembered his and Kakashi's death quite vividly.

After his best friends death, Naruto had enough. They had hid, and rounded up all Edo Tensei's they could find and unsealed them; only the revived four past Hokage's were found. Sasuke took control of said Kage's, giving them enough free will to fight independently.

They all came out of hiding, and the final battle with Madara began. It reflected their very first battle with him, in all honesty. Power bounced back and forth and blood was spilled. It lasted for nearly three days before Obito finally decided to give up and end _everything_.

(He was one of the weaker ones there, standing in front of Kakashi and Sakura because of the fact that he had held the Gedō Mazō and some Rikudō Sennin mojo in him.)

By the end of three days, every one was beaten up, tired, bloody and just mentally destroyed. Even Naruto and the bijū within him were done (and if he remembered correctly, the blonde knocked out along with Sasuke). Sakura was practically unconsciousness, and the Edo Tensei's limbs were gone.

 _Now that I think about it…_ he reflected absently, _I had the most power then, didn't I?_

What happened next honestly scarred him more than watching his childhood friends and family around him die and get picked off one by one rather veraciously at the hands (or strings) of his forefather.

His right forefinger rubbed the cup anxiously, the sound of something dripping echoing in the dark dining room catching his attention. He looked down at the kitchen table, and saw the transparent liquid of tears.

The Uchiha blinked, realizing that he was crying. He huffed irritably, though it sounded more like a sob than anything. The thirteen year old put his elbows and arms on the table, tucking his head down.

The tears continued, and he just wasn't sure _why_.

Only after a minute or so did it stop.

He got rid of the tears, sitting up and staring down at his hands. They were calloused and rough, with rings around both forefingers rather evident due to have kunai rings around his fingers often. He rubbed his fingers together, and got lost in thought.

 _This is pathetic_ , he thought bitterly. _Why did I even cry? I'm not_ sad _…_

A small, uncontrollable bubble of laughter rose in his throat, a cringe-worthy expression appearing on his face. It was replaced with slight surprise.

He paused for a few seconds before sighing hopelessly, slumping over and letting his hands rest on his lap. He stared for many moments in a daze of exhaustion and numbness.

It felt like he sat there for eternity. Thoughts, songs, memories, love, hatred, depression, happiness, patience and anger flashed across his mind and faded just as fast as they came; he was obviously wandering, just sitting there like a dead guy.

"— _to_!"

Obito snapped out of his distant and random train of thought, but he made no movement to acknowledge the voice of his blonde sensei. His muscles were so relaxed that he couldn't remember what position he was sitting in or where he was at. ( _Am I in bed…or…?_ )

A pair of large, gentle (but rough) calloused hands intertwined with his own, making the dark haired teen blink and slowly look up. His lips were parted only a centimeter apart, his eyes were puffy from crying, and they were still dead with exhaustion.

Minato frowned sadly, his mouth twisting sympathetically. His grip tightened, briefly letting go to pull the Uchiha in to a hug. Said child tensed, once relaxed and unmoving muscles bunching up with reflex.

The blonde's grip tightened again, "…You were crying."

Obito stayed silent, simply letting go of the tension as much as he could. He gripped the jōnin vest his sensei wore, burying his face into the crook of the mans neck. The lovely warmth of the embrace was something he hasn't felt since…

…He sobbed quietly, realizing that the only time he was hugged was when he training with Madara (attacks from behind, capture methods being demonstrated, assassinating methods, and so forth).

Basically he was never legibly hugged before.

"Why were you alone?" Minato asked quietly. When he got no answer, he sighed quietly. "You scared me pretty good a few moments ago…you looked like you were actually _dead_. I-I mean…you're paler, you're lacking in sleep, and you didn't even look like you were _breathing_ …"

Obito blinked rapidly, feeling tears well up in his eyes again. He sucked in a deep, half-sob breath, his grip tightening to the point of where it was starting to kind of discomfort him. But he didn't care, really; discomfort was a _luxury_.

"…You took it harder than expected," Minato whispered to himself. He ran his fingers through Obito's ratty and greasy hair, blinking owlishly.

"I'm sorry…" Obito croaked out, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I'm sorry…M-Minato-sensei…I'm sorry…I-I—I'm…j-just…I'm _sorry_ …"

The blonde blinked again. "For what?"

Obito only sobbed, tears flowing as he started to cry again. Only this time he knew exactly why: Regret.

He was sorry for killing his sensei, for killing Kushina, for defecting, for failing Rin, for siding with Madara, for hurting Naruto, for treating the bijū like shit, for starting the Uchiha Coup far more earlier than intended, for manipulating Nagato, for provoking Sasuke, for hurting Itachi, for being weak, for having dark thoughts, for being broken, for failing Kakashi _twice_ , for bearing hate—

For _existing_.

He caused a lot of trouble and burdens. Every time he looked at his sensei, he saw the brave hero who protected his son, his village, and died proudly. He saw the man who defended what he loved against the devil—the _evil_ , _hurt_ , _pathetic_ , _weak_ creature who fought in the name of an empty dream.

He sobbed again, leaning forward into the hug and wrapping his arms around his sensei.

The blonde was obviously surprised, but didn't object.

Obito really truly did want to stop. He wanted to remain numb, oblivious to the world and pain around him. Anonymous. Alone. Numb. Gone. _Dead_.

But suicide was selfish. Hanging himself via rope, pointing a gun at his own head, bleeding to death, purposely dying on the battle field—anything suicide-related was honestly _very_ selfish at this point. He had someone who cared deeply for him—more than one person really.

And he had even _more_ before ending up in where ever the fuck he was now.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen—hell, he was pretty damn sure the rest of Naruto's generation became attached to him before they died, and they just didn't show it.

It was true that Kakashi died protecting him twice (why the Hatake even did it in the first place at this age seemed to be another story all on its own), but the stupid jōnin did it to let him live.

 _I'm so pathetic…_ he thought again. _Why did I even contemplate suicide…?_

Minato chuckled almost bitterly once he calmed down; his crying was only reduced to puffy eyes, shaky breathing and a damp face. "…Suicide, eh…?"

Obito froze, realizing that his lips had moved and that his voice box had worked themselves out to speak the last two sentences of his thought train. He let go of the tension, quickly slipping out of his sensei's grip and backing away. He stood, his head tipping forward so that he stared down at the ground, his fists clenched at his sides.

"It was only one death," Minato murmured. "Once I've lost everything and everyone is only when I'd think about taking my own life. I've seen it happen so, so, _so_ many times, and I know you're strong, Obito. So please don't think about death like that."

The Uchiha raised his shaking hands, staring down at his palms. He imagined gloves— _red_ gloves that were once black. The small patch of skin that was exposed was dripping with blood, and the ground he stood on was ankle-high with even _more_ blood. His breathing subconsciously hitched, the brief illusion disappearing and leaving a disgusting aftertaste.

Obito's shaking had noticeably intensified, and he was lightheaded. His jaw bunched up, rapid breathing coming sharply from his nose. It was obvious that he was on the verge of hyperventilating, because that specific flashback was that of a literal child slaughter.

He had killed all the children, newborns, children in the wombs, pets and surrounding animals of a village in Hi no Kuni, soaking their land in their blood and corpses. It was one of the more memorable rampages of his.

"Obito? Are you okay?" Minato asked.

The Uchiha swallowed, the lump of regret and hurt forming in his throat. He dropped his shaking hands, staring robotically at the floor boards. "I'm fine," he murmured.

"Obviously not."

"I'm _fine_."

"I know depression and sadness when I see it," the blonde countered.

Obito snapped by then. He knew it as well, but his situation was so very fucking different. " _You don't get it_!" he shouted almost desperately. " _You don't get it_!" He sucked in deep breaths, but it was useless; he was pissed off, tired and wanted sleep. "Do you have _any_ idea what it means to lose someone _twice because you're a failure_?!"

Minato blinked in surprise, standing up from his kneeling position next to the chair. It took a few seconds, but the words registered and he blanched. "Twice?" he echoed half to himself. His eyes widened, his pupils dilated—and then he collapsed, knocked out cold before he even hit the ground.

"Sensei!"

* * *

Obito's hands were shaking again. He stared down at them, resting them on his knees that were right next to his chest. His limbs were freezing because he had forgotten to turn on the AC, and honestly he didn't want to move. Outside, it was pouring down rain; distant thunder echoed in the distance, here but not quite here yet.

His sensei was on his bed, still unconscious for some unknown reason. (Nothing was medically wrong, though he was extremely stressed out).

Obito himself was on the floor, sitting against the end of the bed with his knees pulled up to his chest. He was still shaking and shivering from the cold, though. He sighed, wrapping his arms around his legs. He tucked his chin in, and stared blankly at the floor. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't, and he knew that if he did he would have nightmares.

It was his ninth day without sleep. If he stayed a coward, he would die.

Knocking himself unconscious wasn't very smart, he was too stressed out to physically tire himself to sleep and he didn't have any sleeping pills. But even if he did, Minato most probably would compensate them because of paranoia. It was understandable, though…if he was in his sensei's shoes, he'd have done it as well.

He heard Minato shift awake, quickly sitting up in an obvious, frantic mess. Obito made no movement to help the man. But barely a second later, his sensei had him pinned to the ground with one of his special kunai pressed to his throat.

The blondes only reaction was the shift of his students eyes. "Who are you?" Minato snarled.

 _That_ got a reaction. Obito's eyes widened slightly, his blank expression turning into one of surprise. "Minato-sensei, what are you doing?" he questioned calmly.

Minato froze, his eyes widening with shock. He instantly dropped the kunai, drawing in a deep breath and staring at some place that wasn't his student. "O-Obito…"

The Uchiha waited patiently, though the weight on his waist and arms were starting to cut off his blood flow. It was giving him Pins And Needles. Eventually, realization dawned onto Minato, and the blonde got off.

Obito sat up, crossing his legs and staring at the ground in front of him. They basked in silence, with the blonde jōnin obviously thinking.

"What did you mean by _twice_?"

It took a second, but the words registered eventually. Obito slumped slightly, losing the poor posture he had left. He stared down at the ground, thinking about whether or not he should tell his sensei about it. It wasn't a light subject.

Even he wasn't sure, but everything pointed towards time travel. He was pretty sure Minato wouldn't be in the afterlife just _yet_ , and the fact that Kakashi died pointed the arrow even further towards that theory. Then there's the timeline. He was currently thirteen, and the war was supposed to end a week ago.

And then there was the mission. That specific mission was supposed to be the bridge mission, not a slaughter-the-bandits mission. He would especially know.

"Do you remember your death?" Minato suddenly questioned.

Instantly, Obito winced. _Yes_ , he silently replied. He remembered it vividly—his own, Kakashi, Minato, Kushina…Rin. He remembered them all like they happened just yesterday. The blood, the words, the movements before, the movements after, the ripples…he avoided sleep because of it, despite the need and want to acquire rest.

He suddenly froze. _I see what you did there…_ he thought.

"…Don't worry," the blonde murmured. "You don't really have to say anything. The sun shines yellow and the moon bleeds red, so summon the ten tailed beast for a plastic bottle and sun shine for a sharp sword; let the sun shine on."

Obito almost smiled. _So I'm not alone._

'The sun shines yellow and the moon bleeds red, so summon the ten tailed beast for a plastic bottle and sun shine for a sharp sword; let the sun shine on' was a verbal code created by Obito to prevent fraud. It worked up until he died…

"Why'd you die?" Minato murmured. He reached out and rubbed his students head, sympathy crossing his face. "…Do you…remember…?"

Obito shook his head, pushing the hand off of his head.

Said jōnin sighed. "When was the last time you slept?"

"…Well over a week ago," Obito murmured. "This is my ninth day of no sleep…"

He hadn't slept after the assassination mission, nor had he slept the week after said mission—he didn't sleep in the two out of three days Minato was in the hospital, either. He knew that death was inevitable if he stayed awake any further. He was well aware that ten days with no sleep caused death, but ever since he was fourteen he never needed sleep because of the Zetsu flesh he had.

It wasn't intentional. He was suffering severe depression.

And then there were the nightmares.

"You're having nightmares," Minato said. He sighed sadly. "I know that you were independent for quite some time, but Obito—"

"There was a village," he interrupted, changing the subject bluntly. "It was small, unknown…well, not widely-known but known locally by surrounding villages. It was filled with young animals and children because it was new. Over half of the population were children under sixteen. Animals were included."

"… _And_ …?" The blonde sounded curious, unhappy and impatient.

"And one day, a missing-nin passed through that village," he continued. "The ninja wasn't particularly happy that day and took out all of his anger on the children. Can you guess what happened?" He didn't wait for response, "He killed them all, even the young and unborn—animals included. The adults fled and that village was flooded with up to three inches of blood."

"You're talking about the Ketsuyokuko," Minato said.

Obito nodded. "That ninja was me," he murmured. He looked at his shaking hands, lifting them up and staring specifically at his palms. "I killed them all because Madara introduced the plan to k-kill you and Kushina-nee…"

Minato was left speechless.

His Uchiha student still had a lot to learn.

 _And a long road of redemption._

* * *

 _A few hours later…_

* * *

Ginka sniffed the air. Smoke filled his lungs easily and he ended up coughing a few times, the action making his chest ache irritably. He steadied his breathing and jumped up in to the tree branches, enhancing his leaps with trickles of chakra. He kept the scar over his mouth, racing past the grey bark of Kusagakure trees.

His goal was to reach the source of the smoke. Where ever it was and whatever caused it was highly likely to be the Kannabi. But that mission wasn't supposed to come for another week or so, if his being infiltrating the mission room was accurate—and it was.

So it was either a fluke on Iwa's part, or something happened and caused it to collapse.

Or something else happened.

The rustle of movement caught his attention, and he turned his head towards his left. There was a dark shape dashing behind the blurs of trees, the only notable thing being the long cloak he wore. The front stopped at his waist, revealing shinobi pants and zori. The sleeves sagged and the hood cast an eternal shadow over his face, revealing only two glowing red eyes.

The other man sped up considerably fast, black cloak waving wildly in the wind. Ginka scoffed, easily catching up to the other man. But already he felt limited (he hated his kid body).

The cloaked stranger turned his head towards Ginka, raising his arm. His hand was covered by the long black cloak, but it was pushed out of the way to reveal the skin tight, long sleeve muscle shirt he was apparently wearing underneath the cloak. A gloved hand tapped their fore and thumb together in morse code, saying "peace".

Ginka blinked, staring at the other name. He taped his own fingers together in morse code, questioning both objective and his name.

His response was "Kannabi Bridge" and the name of "Koshō".

Ginka responded with his own name and objective.

The rest of the way was in uneasy silence.

They reached the source of the smoke within the next few minutes of traveling, landing on the grassy forest edge.

Kannabi Bridge was destroyed.

Both Koshō and Ginka blanched, but they didn't show it. They just looked around with calculating eyes, trying to spot the cause of the explosion.

Barely seconds later, they spotted _another_ man. He had the standard Konoha shinobi uniform, all in black. The tape was replaced with black cloth and no skin showed. His head was covered by an odd full head helmet; it reminded both Ginka and Koshō of a sci-fi manga, where the main character wore a full head helmet…no tinted windows, no buckle, no indication to take it off like a normal helmet.

The bottom of a helmet had a scarf sewed to it—black and survivor material. It covered the mans neck and rested on his shoulders quite nicely. He put his hand on his hips, a pair of glowing red eyes flashing behind pitch black glass.

"Do you know him?" Ginka spoke.

"No," Koshō murmured. "He doesn't even have a chakra signature…"

The man lifted his right foot, and moved it in more morse code: "I am Shu, and I have won."

Sudden thunder clapped overhead in the distance, briefly distracting Ginka and Koshō. "Shu" got away in that time.

He left nothing but a burning Kannabi Bridge.

* * *

 **"Ketsuyokuko": "Child Bloodbath"**

 **"Koshō": "Failure"; "Accident"; "Objection"**

 **"Shu": "Vermilion"**

 **Peace! :3**


	3. Invasion

**Original title** : Shu

 **Rated** : MA (M)

 **Original summary** : He was pretty sure he was a deadman. But that kid with the blinding red scarf made him not-dead, and Scarf Kid reminded him vaguely of Kakashi. Who is supposed to be dead.

 **Four main genres** : Supernatural, Action, Angst, & Hurt/Comfort.

 **Pairings** : MinaKushi & offscreen!KakaRin (later).

 **Recommended songs** : 10,000 by Kick The Habit, Breathe Me by Sia (Butch Clancy remix), Little Talks, Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men & Icarus by Pompeii.

* * *

 **This chapter acted as a catalyst to help express my anxiety, emptiness and frustration.**

 **(Chapter one was dark thoughts, emptiness and loss.)**

 **(Chapter two was emptiness, sadness, despair and suicide. It was also made in memory of Cyndago's loss. I forgot to mention it because when I edited it [adding ANs and stuff] I was rather deep in thought.)**

 **Takashiro Yuki: Thanks for your review. :3**

 **Guest: Well, then, go ahead and ask questions. I don't mind it. Thanks for your review! :3**

 **Original chapter word count: 3.4k~**

 **Enjoy! :3**

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Invasion_

* * *

Ginka was fast in his travels away from the burning Konoha. So was Koshō, who had came to help (he was near by, and proved to be trustworthy). Possibly a little bit faster, but the pace was kept the same. Obito was on Minato's back, the thirteen year old harboring a nasty burn wound on both of his legs, crippling his ability to walk.

Kushina wasn't in much better shape. She had charred burn marks on her left thigh, a thin scratch over her cheek to go with it. Minato himself had an non-fatal gash over his upper left arm, and Koshō was left untouched give or take a few bruises.

Ginka himself was heavily breathing from all the running, causing a chain reaction of pain on both his left ribcage, side and chest—right where the former gaping hole was. Eventually he had to stop himself and kneel on a branch, rubbing the sore spot where the fresh, aching scar was.

Koshō landed next to him, the formers head dipping with both respect and worry. "We're almost at the border. We have to keep going."

Ginka simply nodded, and took off once more.

Whoever Shu was, he'd get his revenge on that bastard.

* * *

 _Eighty-two minutes and thirty seconds earlier…_

* * *

Obito was…frustrated. _Very_ frustrated. And confused. Sad. Angry. Sorrowful. Despaired. He was extremely hurt…and exhausted. He wanted sleep, he wanted to eat some ramen or drink something and talk with a friend—but he _couldn't_.

He was too riled up and emotional.

He had made a resolve not to die just hours ago.

It was solid, frozen and never wavering.

And then he took a walk for the first time in three days to set something critical up and saw a young teen wearing a red scarf the moment he finished.

The instant Obito's sharp eye caught that feature, he searched for a chakra signature—and he _found it_.

The moment he was out of the average sensor range of fifty meters, he ran back to his apartment like he was a civilian being chased. When he got back, he nearly broke down screaming and crying. But he didn't.

Instead, he locked the door. He didn't move for multiple minutes. In all eventuality, however, he slid down to the ground and hugged his knees, digging his face into his thighs as far as he could. He was honestly so depressed. He hated himself again (well, he hated himself _more_ ).

He…he was frustrated…and all other negative emotions thought possible…

And…yet…he was _relieved_. He was glad. So he smiled, and instantly, his mood brightened up a little. The disgusting feeling of hurt still lingered, but it was a little bit lighter.

(Eventually, his mind drifted, and finally— _finally_ —after two hundred sixteen hours of sinking in depression, he fell asleep.)

Of course, due to him sleeping heavily barely five minutes in, he didn't notice Ginka spying from the kitchen window.

The Henge'd scarf-wearing teen stared—and stared, and stared and stared and lost track of time. By the time he realized he had lost track of time, it was dark, and the sun was just setting to wake the other side of the world up.

And then he felt the cold blade of a kunai press against his neck.

Ginka blinked, slightly turning his head over his shoulder. But he didn't need to look any further to know that it was his favorite blonde jōnin-sensei. Internally, he grinned; externally, he blinked again.

"Why are you here?" Namikaze Minato hissed quietly.

Ginka looked back to Obito, his relaxed and stoic expression pinching into a sympathetic one. "I wanted to visit my old home," he murmured. "I was walking through the yellow district and I saw him. He was alone, and…he looked…dead."

Minato's blue eyes turned towards his sleeping Uchiha student. "He's been looking dead for the past ten or so days," he stated.

Ginka openly reacted to that, but the older blonde didn't let him continue.

"Obito is basically dead…" he whispered, "and since his best friend died saving him, he hasn't been too well. It didn't help his personal and internal situation. He was diagnosed with chronicle depression about five or so years ago, when his two cats, dog and bird died."

"All from a pets death?" Ginka murmured.

"They were birth presents," Minato explained. "And it's genetics to a consent, too. But, apparently, his mother was emotionally fragile, and those pets were emotional support along with Obito's father. She ended up dying of childbirth and the father died three months prior due to the fact that he had leukemia."

The dark haired teen suddenly became eerily silent. His face slightly tucked itself into the long, wool handmade scarf; his expression suddenly became thoughtful, though, when realization dawned. As an adult, he was told some facts by Sakura at one point while Naruto was off frolicking with Jiraiya for nearly three years.

" _The mother typically decides the emotional strength of her child_ ," she had said, " _along with body shape. The father decides height_ …"

 _No wonder he was so easily broken_ , Ginka thought. _Not only does he have chronicle depression, but his emotional prowess isn't exactly_ brilliant _…_

Minato lowered the kunai from the teens neck, sighing and settling down next to the boy on the railing.

Ginka, crouching on the sill of the window, looked over towards the blonde. "What are you doing?"

"It's obvious that you aren't leaving," the blonde grumbled. "So I'll stay with you. And besides, that Uchiha fool on the other side of this door needs to be watched over."

"Aren't you an active jōnin in war?"

" _Was_. The Iwa-nin sent a letter of surrender this morning. Their forces got obliterated by a 'man in a strange helmet'. Said _man in a strange helmet_ drew 'I am Shu, and I have won' in the Sandaime Tsuchikage's blood," Minato explained.

Ginka's eyes dramatically widened. He hopped down from the sill, instantly in Minato's face with his fish-like expression of shock. "The _Sandaime_ Tsuchikage?!"

The blonde future Hokage nodded. "Yes," he confirmed. "Ōnoki's dead."

Internally, the teen was freaking out. The Sandaime Tsuchikage couldn't die—not yet. It changed _so many things_. Things he couldn't name, but things that crafted the future.

He didn't know what it changed, but it _changed_.

And whoever Shu was, they obviously didn't give a shit about what changed or what had not changed. "Shu" was never a factor person. "Shu" was never a person. "Shu" hasn't _won_ yet ( _What are they even fighting?_ he vaguely wondered). "Shu" didn't even _exist_. So why _now_ of all times? Why show up when Hatake Kakashi was basically dead—and when "Koshō" comes around?

 _Wait_ , he thought abruptly. He calmly looked at Minato. "Who's Shu?"

"The man with the strange helmet."

Ginka glared.

Minato smiled.

He snorted. "Touché."

"Yes, yes. Touché," Minato shot back. He shrugged. "People really don't know who Shu _truly_ is. But the glowing red eyes were traced back to the Sharingan. As a reassurance, all Uchiha's are to go through a mini interrogation."

"Excluding him?"

"Yeah. Sarutobi-sama had been keeping a close eye on Obito via crystal ball during the attack time mentioned in the letter," he explained.

"And why the Sharingan? Why not any other smaller, glowing red dōjutsu?"

"I have no clue. Those are just details, I guess. But, anyways, once the Yondaime Tsuchikage is appointed, Hokage-sama said he'd try and sign a peace treaty with Iwagakure no Sato in hopes of finding out who this _Shu_ guy is," Minato continued. He turned his head towards the rattled, scarf-wearing boy. "Why are you interested in Obito enough to follow him?"

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I can. Now, answer my question please."

Ginka sighed. He honestly hated the sarcastic and practical side of his sensei. It typically happened when the man was dealing with a lot of stress, or when he was just on his "man period" (as stated by Kushina), or when he was just _really_ hungry.

"I don't really know," he murmured. "I guess the fact that he looked like a corpse walking around caught my attention…" _…because that was all of my fault._ "And besides…I saw this Shu figure when the Kannabi Bridge was destroyed."

"And why were you at the Kannabi Bridge?" Minato questioned. "Were you the one who destroyed it?"

"No. It was already destroyed when I got there," Ginka replied. He looked down. "There was one other guy there as well. He called himself—"

An explosion rattled the buildings from nearby, cutting off the conversation. Instantly, the two ninja became alert. Ginka flicked a kunai out of his sleeve, solid eyes looking towards the origin of the smoke. He was alarmed, and confused. _How could no one notice the income?_

Dragons of flames flew out in fluid ribbon-like ways, randomly dragging their bellies along the streets of the village within seconds of being created. Civilians ran, shinobi hurriedly getting battle ready. The dragons twisted themselves, causing flecks and chunks of burning fire to fly everywhere.

Minato quickly ran inside of Obito's apartment, returning with the sleeping boy in his arms. He looked to Ginka, quickly speaking orders. "Take Obito to Sunahara Gaido, Konohagakure no Sato. My wife, Kushina, will be there. She has red ankle-long hair."

Ginka blinked in surprise. "What? Why?"

"Why what?" Minato replied as he forcefully put Obito on Ginka's back.

"Why trust me?" the red scarfed tween-man snapped, narrowing his eyes. Ginka and Minato barely knew one another. Kakashi had a vague and unexplainable feeling, but it was just that. Unexplained.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, giving Ginka a tight look. His eyebrows pinched together in frustration. But the expression snapped back to something akin to neutrality. " _Hurry_ ," he ushered. "The attack is coming this way."

Ginka only nodded. He couldn't read Minato, and he never will be able to. He turned, and was about to take his requested leave, but his blonde sensei stopped him via grabbing his arm.

Minato narrowed his eyes seriously. "Tell her that I burned my hand."

Ginka frowned, but nodded again. He leaped diagonally towards Sunahara Gaido, noticing the burning streets.

Memories assaulted him.

 _Flames ignited and burned, limbo forces using chakra to kick them up and catch even more on fire. Flaming corpses were in scattered, burned rubble. Multiple survivors were knocked out or struggling to keep alive, Kakashi included._

 _The Hatake coughed harshly, his one Kamui eye soaking in the scene of Madara moving in on him. A black, gloved hand reached out, movement slowing as he tried not to lose consciousness. Madara's hand grabbed his throat, cutting off circulation of air and blood. His strength was enough to pick Kakashi up well over a foot off the ground._

 _The ancient Uchiha's lips moved and carved out words, but silence—_

An explosion cut the dramatic memory off. Ginka's eyes widened into saucers before another explosion happened not even ten meters away from him and Obito. The fire hit his side and shoulder blade as he barely turned away. The shockwave sent the duo flying into an alleyway, with Ginka under Obito.

The skidding on his back made his shoulder and side wound hurt, the left side of his ribcage cracking and shattering. The ringing of his ears didn't help.

The impact of the landing and explosion inevitably woke Obito up, who had fallen out of Ginka's grip at the last second. He grunted painfully while he sat up, holding his thigh; his ankle throbbed, too. Both of his legs had charred burns on them, blood forming in between the cracks of skin. He gritted his teeth, blinking the exhaustion from his eyes.

"Obito…"

Said Uchiha turned his head, eyes widening when he saw the red scarf. He looked at the dark haired tween, who slowly stood on shaky feet. His eyes narrowed, analyzing the situation within nanoseconds. He was with an unknown, surrounded by smoke and fire, and had bad leg wounds. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ginka. I'm an ally," he stated. "Minato told me to bring you to his wife…Kushina, I believe."

Obito turned his head towards the burning streets, wood collapsing and civilians running. Steam was rising and mixing with black smoke as ninja tried to put out fires, but the flames continued reaching out, spreading their wrath across the village furthermore. "What's going on?" he asked, despite having a pretty good idea of what was happening.

"I'm not sure. There was an explosion, and then flaming dragons came out of it," Ginka explained. "Do you know where Kushina might be?"

A basic Konoha kunai found its way to the base of Ginka's spine, Uzumaki Kushina appearing behind him with a dark look. "And _why_ would a stranger like _you_ want to know where I am in the middle of a _completely unknown occurrence_?"

Obito turned his head and looked at her. He blinked. "Kushina-nee-chan," he said.

Her light blue eyes narrowed when she noticed his injuries and the pain in his eyes. "Did _he_ do this to you?" she hissed. An unspoken threat of torture and death went unheard, but noticed.

The Uchiha shook his head. "No. An explosion happened across the street and we just got caught up in it," he explained. "Minato wants me to be with you. According to Ginka."

Said dark haired teen nodded with a frown. "Yeah. And he told me that he…uh…'burned his hand'."

Kushina showed no reaction. She pulled the kunai away, tucking it into her back pouch. Ginka turned and looked at her with a questioning expression.

She simply shook her head. "I need to get back to my house. I have to grab some things before the flames get there. Ginka-san, keep Obito safe. I'll be back within five minutes tops. If the fire reaches you two, head for the rooftops and go straight for the Hokage's public grave. If that's destroyed, go to the main entrance and wait on the right side of the outer wall. Am I understood?"

Both boys nodded.

"Good, dattebane," she said. In a blur of red, she was gone.

Ginka turned and helped Obito up. The duo slowly limped and hid behind an abandoned couch that was by the wall, the color blind tween pulling out gauze. He wrapped said medical material over Obito's right knee and ankle, tying it tight in order to slow the blood flow.

He did the same on the other side, careful not to create more pain.

All he got was a twitch of a finger.

That made Ginka frown. He blinked and looked at the Uchiha. "Are you discomforted?"

Obito snorted. "That's a new one."

Ginka glared. "Well, are you or are you not?"

He sighed. "Honestly, when it comes to pain, discomfort is a _luxury_."

"So you're not comfortable."

"I'm fine."

"Uh-huh."

The Uchiha scoffed at the obvious disbelief in the other males voice. But the quarrel became ephemeral. Their senses went off just in time to awkwardly duck out of the way out a kunai.

Ginka quickly acted. He picked up Obito and rushed the thirteen year old onto the other side of the alleyway couch. Another kunai aimed and nearly hit Ginka on his forearm, but the cloth was barely scathed.

In a lightning fast flick of movement, Ginka got out a kunai of his own out, spinning the rings on his forefingers. He raced forward toward the cloaked figure at the other end of the alleyway, weapons clashing. But the enemy didn't move. He just lifted his arm with a third kunai blocking Ginka.

"My, my…" the man drawled. "You've become _quite_ the cunning little thing, haven't you? It's only been ten days…how did you get _so_ much strength _so_ fast? Especially after that little… _event_ …" The mock in his voice didn't go unheard.

Ginka glared, aiming a fist that unfortunately got caught. He kicked the mysterious newcomer in the stomach, yanking himself away from the iron grip. He sped through the hand seals of a certain technique, ending on the tiger hand seal. He sucked in a deep breath of air, and let it go in one big ball of compressed fire.

The newcomer simply stumbled aside, but the cloak's hood was sent flying off to reveal a helmet.

It was _Shu_ —the one who destroyed the Kannabi and annihilated Iwa.

Ginka's eyes widened before he glared vehemently. " _You_ …" he snarled, baring teeth in hatred.

"Why so mad?" Shu questioned, the smirk leaking and lacing into his deep voice almost perfectly. "You attacked first."

"You _know_ what you did, _Shu_ ," Ginka snarled. "Killing such an important figure like that…do you have any idea what you've _done_?!"

"Like _you're_ one to talk," the taller man replied. "Ōnoki's death was inevitable, anyway. And you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about." He pointed a kunai at the boy. " _Exactly_ what I'm talking about."

Ginka froze. The dots connected and he instantly knew that Shu—the bastard standing before him—was from the future. _His_ future. The future he _died_ in.

"I felt rather _betrayed_ when you just suddenly _left_ like that, y'know," Shu spat, an obvious sneer leaking into his voice. "And then I saw you repeat it. Basically killing yourself in front of your friends to be the _generic common hero_ …"

"I am _not_ a hero," Ginka hissed. "I never was and I never intended to ever be one."

"Yes. You're right. Heroes help people in _general_ …they don't center everything around a group of people," Shu mumbled. "True heroes help _everybody_. But I said _common_ and _generic_."

The red scarf wearing preteen-man scoffed, rushing forward and swiping his kunai. But his wrist was caught, the iron grip enough to release his own grip on the handle. Shu pulled back his free arm, speedily jabbing two fingers into the soft, damaged and burned flesh of his side.

Ginka screamed as the mans index and middle finger dug deeply into the wound. He tried his hardest to completely push the pain aside, lifting his leg and aiming his knee into Shu's side.

But it backfired. The mans other hand let go of his wrist and knocked him down via leg twist, forcing him onto his chest. It didn't stop there, though. Shu kicked Ginka away, unsheathing a dagger and running towards the tween.

He swiped the blade, and blood drops flew in the air.

But the blood didn't come from Ginka.

Uzumaki Kushina gained a scratch across her cheek as she misdirected the hit using one of Minato's special kunai. She didn't hesitate to swipe it, both blades clashing as the duo danced.

But, eventually (and alarmingly quickly), the suspected time traveler gained the upper hand.

They both withdrew, stepping back a few feet from one another. Shu raised his right arm, however, and snapped his fingers.

Then the explosion happened.

It ended up being on a wall to the left next to Kushina. Flames burst out of the smoke, hitting her in the thigh with ease. The rest of her left body suffered only pink skin.

Obito's eyes widened. His Sharingan activated as he looked at Shu. The man in the helmet nodded, and took a step back before disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Ginka coughed, slowly getting up and staring in disbelief. "A Kage Bushin…?"

Kushina struggled up, walking towards the couch. She picked Obito up bridal style, and started limping towards the alley end where Shu had showed up. "We need to get to the entrance," she croaked.

Ginka looked down, and slowly caught up with the Uzumaki. "Can you make it…?"

"I've dealt with a stab a centimeter away from my heart, _boy_ , I can manage a few burns," she snapped. They turned a street, speeding up in spite of the pain. "What about you two?"

"I'm fine," Ginka coughed. "Just hard time breathing…"

"I'm exhausted…" Obito murmured, his head leaning onto Kushina. "Wh-where are we going…?"

"We have to leave," the Uzumaki stated. Her eyes narrowed, blood from a scratch above her temple getting in her eyes. "This is a one man invasion…a-and besides…" She swallowed nervously, tears brimming at her eyes, "H-Hiruzen-sama is—is…d-dead…"

Ginka's eyes widened. _First_ , he thought, _the Sandaime Tsuchikage…and now…_ Hiruzen _?_

"Shu killed him," Kushina said sadly. She tried to hold back a sob, failing miserably as tears started to fall. "I-I watched it happen…S-Sarutobi-sama was fighting th-that _evil man_ in a taijutsu fight an-and go-t stabbed in the head b-by that _demon_ …"

Both tween-turned-men were rattled and speechless. Both were for completely different reasons, but _reasons_ nonetheless.

"So we must leave," she murmured shakily. "Just until we can get back on our feet and find this fucking murderer."

Ginka could only nod. Meanwhile, Obito silently cried.

(He was guilty.)

* * *

 **"Sunahara Gaido, Konohagakure no Sato": "Sandy Plain Road, Village Hidden by Leaves"**

 **"Kage Bushin": "Shadow Clone"**

 **Oh my.**

 **Anyways.**

 **Happy almost Halloween! :D**

 **Peace! :3**


	4. Blood

**Original title** : Shu

 **Rated** : MA (M)

 **Original summary** : He was pretty sure he was a deadman. But that kid with the blinding red scarf made him not-dead, and Scarf Kid reminded him vaguely of Kakashi. Who is supposed to be dead.

 **Four main genres** : Supernatural, Action, Angst, & Hurt/Comfort.

 **Pairings** : MinaKushi & offscreen!KakaRin (later).

 **Recommended songs** : 10,000 by Kick The Habit, Breathe Me by Sia (Butch Clancy remix), Little Talks, Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men & Icarus by Pompeii.

* * *

 **Hey, Hi, Hello. This chapter is shorter than others, but ooh dat cliffhanger doe!**

 **Takashiro Yuki: Nope, not Madara. But you're close. Shu is a demon. He'll be revealed to us *cough*hint*cough* but not to them. Thanks for your review. :3**

 **boomvroomshroom: To be honest it was never meant to be cleared up by the author. It's too early to reveal who's dead or alive. Only a select few know which is which, excluding spoilers. Thanks for your review. :3**

 **an-earl: Already done. Thanks for your concern and review (I'm okay, this is mostly just past feelings). :3**

 **lalalightwood: lol at the end of this fic, there will be a questionnaire. It'll be just like how I did it with The One Who Is Bound. It'll be on the second to last chapter, so any questions can be asked in a review for said chapter, and said questions can be answered next chapter. Thanks for your review! :3**

 **Prescripto13: Aw, thanks! :3**

 ** _R E A D!_ Hold on to your questions or demand is of answers please. I know it may not seem like it, but I do know what I'm doing and I do know where I'm going with this. If you have any questions, write it down or put it on an iCloud document. That way you can ask me later on. I'll tell y'all when the question/answer-aire will come.**

 **This isn't a long term story, either. It'll have under 20 chapters with 2.8k+ words per said chapters. We're getting to the peek of Arc #1 of the story, and Arc #2 will come around soon.**

 **Original chapter word count: 3k~**

 **Enjoy! :3**

* * *

 _Chapter 4: Blood_

* * *

Shu…Shu was _pissed_. Furious. He had _so many things_ to say—to shout and scream into "Ginka"'s face, drill it into the man-boy's head. Anger boiled in his blood, enough to probably destroy the next village with flying crimson shades.

His teeth grounded together as he pushed the helmet off enough to expose his mouth. He pulled off a glove, and instantly stared chewing away at the cuticle of his fingers. His hands were beaten up with bite mark bruises and scabs of bites, results of anger taken out on himself.

It took him a minute or two to stop chewing at his nails; he put the helmet and glove back onto his person, shifting clothing around to cover up all skin.

He wondered vaguely how his blood clone was doing. It could give out any time, as the things survival depended on both mental and physical health.

Last he saw it, it was horrible. It basically looked dead.

He chuckled and grinned, tears brimming at his eyes as he started laughing lightly.

* * *

Minato glanced over his shoulder to the sleeping Obito. The thirteen year olds eyelashes were clumping up as tears started forming, a small teardrop forming at the corner of his eye. The blonde frowned, turning completely around.

They were in a large, hollow, fallen tree that served as a temporary safe haven to rest in before they illegally crossed the border.

Koshō had joined their group, and healed up as much as she could as a kunoichi med-nin (she was gender fluid, apparently, and to him she looked more feminine than masculine; Ginka disagreed and Kushina just didn't care).

They had been scouting non-stop to steer clear of Shu. They've been at it for nearly a week, but smart shinobi made shadowy movements.

And Shu was _smart_.

Of course, Minato hasn't met the man in any way whatsoever just yet, but to kill Sarutobi Hiruzen just like _that_ took tactic, power and confidence. Maybe a bit of inner darkness considering the circumstances, but everybody has their demons.

The blonde snapped back to reality when Obito shifted, puffy eyes opening. His pupils dilated as he looked around, noticing his sensei sitting a few inches away from him.

"'Morning," Minato greeted lightly. He smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Obito sighed and sat up, rubbing his dry eyes. "Tired," he croaked. He looked at the blonde with squinted eyes. "Do we have any water?"

Minato nodded and grabbed a canteen from a bag by his thigh, unscrewing the cap and handing it over. "I think you overslept," he said. "But at least you're getting your rest. No nightmares, right?"

Obito shook his head. "Nah," he mumbled. He drank some water for a few seconds before handing it back over. He wiggled his fingers and rolled his wrists; he bent his elbows, too, stretching out his arms. "But I've got Pins And Needles basically everywhere. It's getting annoying."

The Namikaze chuckled. "Here, let's just walk around a little, get your blood flowing again," he suggested. He stood up, helping the injured Uchiha up to his one available foot.

They walked out of the large, hollowed tree. Sunlight spilled onto them, revealing morning dewdrops on the autumn ground.

Obito looked around. "Where are we heading?"

"Just a general direction, really. But we're aiming to get to a village in a mountain range near by Kumogakure," Minato explained. He looked up to the clear sky, goosebumps forming from the exposure to chilliness.

"Aren't we enemies with them?"

"Not since Shu happened. We agreed to an alliance just to catch that guy," the blonde stated. "Besides, he's a one-man army who destroyed a full two villages. Not to mention he killed nearly millions."

" _Millions_?"

"Smaller villages were found with Shu's aftermath," Minato informed.

Obito blinked in surprise. "Seriously? He's attacking innocent civilians, too?"

"Apparently shinobi blood isn't enough." The Namikaze sighed. "I'm really looking forward to getting revenge for Hiruzen-sama…"

The Uchiha blinked again, eyes becoming downcast. He looked at a particularly large dewdrop in the center of a golden oak leaf. He stared at it for a few seconds before he suddenly felt extremely light headed. He stumbled over himself, ignoring the agonizing pain of his broken bones.

" _Obito_!"

Said thirteen year old looked up, realizing that he had basically fallen over, fainted halfway, and was back in his bed. This time, Koshō and Kushina were hovering over him. His vision blurred before he could process anything further more, feeling a thick and warm liquid rising in his throat.

Obito instinctively coughed it up, the familiar feeling of blood on his lips tingling at his nerves.

An unexpected chuckle sounded from his throat, but it was ignored.

He coughed again, though this time it was more violent. Koshō's cold hands pressed at his ribs during his bloody coughing fit, professionally prodding. But it stopped, the warm feeling of Shōsen Jutsu roaming across his chest.

Obito wheezed, bitterly amused. He knew exactly what was going on, and he knew that his time with Minato, Kushina and peace were nearing an end. He felt tears brim at the seams of his eyes, the drops falling down his temple. But he wasn't crying because of emotions.

His train of thought was interrupted by another fit of rough coughs, Minato's hand gripping his own tightly.

"He has severe internal bleeding," Koshō concluded. "And i-it's not just in his lungs…it—it's everywhere."

"Can you do anything about it?" Kushina croaked.

"No, all of the blood and skin cells are far too weak. Not to mention, the blood vessels are shrinking," the gender fluid med-nin murmured. "If I perform surgery on him here and now, I'd basically kill him…" She frowned.

"He did complain about have Pins And Needles a few moments ago," Minato informed her. He was quiet, and shocked. What Koshō was basically say was that Obito will die no matter what. His eyes widened, his line of sight trailing down to the ground. He was silent for a few moments before sighing shakily. "How long does he have?"

"T-two days, maybe," Koshō estimated, "t-three if he holds on tightly enough."

Kushina's eyes widened. "W-what…"

"Something is…it's…it's slowing his blood flow," the med-nin explained. Her hood was off to reveal wavy silver, with a gender-neutral haircut. She had blue eyes and pale skin, making her features pop up against the black clothing she wore. "It's not natural, but it's not _unnatural_ either." She paused for a few seconds, looking down at the ground, "I…I honestly think it's best if we put him down…"

Kushina's sharp glare turned towards Koshō. Teeth scratched against each other, killing intent coating the area heavily. " _No_."

"Kushina," Minato warned.

The Uzumaki looked at him with a dark, teary-eyed look. "Kakashi's dead, Hiruzen's dead, and _Rin_ —Rin could be _dead_! I don't want to lose _Obito_ , too!" she shouted.

"I don't want to either," he murmured, feeling fear grip him at the thought of losing Rin again, "and he'd die anyway, if Koshō—"

" _If_."

"Yes. _If_ Koshō is right," he continued. "And besides, the next village is only a days travel away. We can make it there if we leave within the next few hours."

"I'll keep an eye on Obito," Koshō volunteered. "Ginka went to go hunting for some lunch."

"Where at?" Kushina asked shakily.

"East."

The red haired Uzumaki nodded. "I'll go get him," she said, standing and rushing out quickly. Her presence faded away slowly after that, going eastward as Koshō mentioned.

"You lied."

Koshō blinked, and looked up at the blonde man. She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I _know_ when someone's lying," Minato stated, "and you lied."

The gender fluid ninja smiled bitterly and looked down at Obito's pale hand, who had laughed flatly again. She grabbed it gently, making the owner of the limb nearly shout with pain at the simplest touch.

He was noticeably rasping heavily, obviously struggling to breathe. She backed off, a sympathetic look crossing her face. "His death is basically going backwards. What's happening is the blood, for some odd reason, isn't flowing, starting off with his lower limbs.

"If it reaches his shoulders, he's going to inevitably die because the heart won't have any blood to circulate. When there's no blood to circulate, the heart will stop. When the heart stops, the brain will have only four minutes of survival. But after four minutes, brain cells drop dead at a dramatically high rate," she explained hoarsely, "and he'll die."

"How long does he _truly_ have?"

The hesitation was very real. Tears brimmed at the bottom lids of her eyes, and she didn't speak for almost an entire minute.

"Koshō," the blonde murmured.

"This is the part I hate most about being a med-nin," the silver haired ninja sobbed. She took off her gloves and rubbed her eyes dry, putting them back on and sniffing. "At…at most…I-I'd say an hour. He…could die any second."

Minato's eyes widened. An _hour_. The village was four hours away, two if rushed, and he's never been there. He couldn't teleport, he couldn't get there before Obito's predicted death, and he sure as hell couldn't heal.

But he hoped.

The blonde grabbed a spare wool blanket, draping it over the Uchiha time-traveler as if the boy was glass. He picked Obito up bridal style, ignoring the death grip on his vest. He looked down at the boy just in time to hear a flat laugh escape his lips.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Koshō snapped.

Minato ignored her, stepping out of the hollowed tree trunk. "I'm going to the next village. Stay here and tell Kushina and Ginka I took Obito there."

She narrowed her eyes before sighing. "Hurry," she muttered. "And please be careful with him. Pins And Needles are painful."

The Namikaze nodded, and jumped up into the trees at full speed. The death grip on his vest tightened by tenfold, the teen in his arms coughing up blood.

More blood chased after it, though. It dripped out of his eyes, and ears, closely following by his temple and hands. Why he was bleeding ridiculous pints of the crimson liquid was completely unknown, but it was ignored.

He just prayed.

* * *

Obito wasn't sure what was going on, but he had a general, unconfirmed ideal idea of what was going on. He kept going in and out of consciousness, the only clear things being the forestry that blurred past him, the pain, the dizziness and the fact that he was being held by Minato.

He forced his eyes open, albeit they didn't open all the way. He looked up to Minato, grinding his teeth together to endure what he could.

The blonde looked down at him for a few brief seconds. "So you're awake," he said clearly. "We're almost at the nearest village. Just another thirty minutes, so hold on, okay?"

Obito's bloody head rested against Minato's chest, a weak and bloody grin spreading across his face. "I'm going to die," he croaked, "regardless."

Minato's grip tightened. "I'm not letting you die a third time," he stated. "I wasn't there the first time, and I couldn't do anything the second time…so please, just let me try and save you."

"Whatever you say," the Uchiha mumbled. "But the Obito you know…" His voice trailed off, his body shaking violently as he coughed up more blood. But it didn't stop at just a few hacks.

It continued, forcing Minato to stop by a patch of ferns and moss crowded by trees. He put his student down between the crook of two trees, the ferns rustling and the birds flying away.

"You can't die…not like this…" Minato murmured. His hand cupped Obito's right cheek, the pale and bloody time traveler leaning in to the touch. "It's…it just doesn't feel right…"

"Do you know what a blood clone is?" Obito asked.

The blonde shook his head silently.

"It…duplicates cells, genes, chromosomes, red blood cells, white blood cells, T-cells, DNA strands and brain cells, and recreates a solid, _real_ , blood human copy," he explained painfully. "But the blood flow is weak, the emotional state, the skin cells are weak…everything but appearance is weak, and can't function normally. Because of this, they can barely last two weeks."

The dots instantly connected, and Minato's eyes widened. "You're a blood clone."

Obito smiled briefly, blinking tiredly.

"So…there's hope. You're still alive. But where are you?"

"So far gone," Obito replied almost mirthfully. But his voice was bitter. "Dying three times will do stuff, y'know. And not being informed _hurts_." His eyes narrowed dangerously, red eyes molding into existence and glaring at Minato. The blonde's eyes widened, his hand pulling away. "But _you_ of all people wouldn't know that feeling…"

"Obito, what the hell are you talking about?" Minato snapped.

"You _know_ ," he hissed. "You've _known_ for ten days. Why didn't you tell me? Or Rin? Hell, why did you trust _Ginka_ and _Koshō_ so fast, _hm_?"

The Namikaze froze, his eyes widening into saucers.

Obito's head leaned against one of the two tree trunks, his Sharingan deactivating. He smiled bitterly, tears falling as he laughed for a few seconds. When he calmed down, he spoke again. "…J-just know that the only thing that can be passed down to me is hate."

Minato frowned, his eyes staring down at the ground. It was deathly silent for a moment before he realized that the only sound he could actually hear was his own breathing. His eyes widened slightly as he looked up at Obito.

His student wasn't moving.

It took a few moments to register, but he openly flinched when the information fully processed.

A secondary thought cut in, though, and he remembered that the one before him was only a blood clone. It wasn't obvious…but it wasn't hidden, either.

He extended an arm out, his hand closing Obito's eyes with a heavy hit to his chest.

It still hurt.

* * *

Shu was only a few miles away from Minato when he suddenly felt lost chakra hit him like a shockwave. He only flinched in reaction, not even bothering to stop walking through the bushes and ferns.

Red eyes glowed brightly as he grinned in triumph. They knew, and he could deceive him—tear them apart from the inside out and destroy them.

Exactly like how he was destroyed.

* * *

 _"Burn him."_

 _Fire touched him and charred skin cells._

 _"Cut him."_

 _Blood spilled and flowed heavily as the knife damaged more skin cells._

 _"Deceive him."_

 _The love of his life walked up to him, kissed him, and then slit his throat._

 _"Break his bones."_

 _He was having a hard time breathing, he was dizzy, he was hurting so_ damn much _—_

 _And yet he was still_ alive _._

 _The cuffs were removed from him roughly, strong hands grabbing him and propping him up on something he recognized as a knee. He opened his one remaining eye, only to see a yellow-haired man with blue eyes standing in front of his face. Said man was upside down for him, but he could still see the expressions that portrayed themselves on his rather tanned face._

 _The man smiled. "So. We're going to break your bones now. If you don't accept the offer, then we're going to start pulling organs out. And guess what?" He grinned. "_ You'll live through it all _."_

 _"Stick that fucking offer where the sun doesn't shine," the tortured man snarled weakly._

 _The offerer sighed in disappointment. "Okay. My lovely minions, please start."_

 _Metal weights were put on his legs and shoulders, pressuring his body down. Moments later, a loud crack and a scream echoed throughout the torture chamber, and continued for almost eternity._

* * *

Bright, lime yellow eyes blinked, the owner of them finally processing his surroundings.

Shu sighed. He pulled out a scroll, walking up to some roots and sprawling it out on said roots. He put his index and middle finger up, chakra pulsing and allowing the storage seal drawn on it to open up. He took his helmet and scarf off, replacing it with a thicker grey scarf and a dark cloak.

He wrapped it around his neck, tucking his chin into the cloth. The bottom half of his face was hidden by the scarf, but it kept his body warm. Kaminari no Kuni was rather cold in spring, and it still snowed.

He put the scroll away, tucking it into a pouch that was hooked up to his belt. In all, he had at least five pouches—three for battle, one for scrolls and the other for survival.

Shu stood, hearing the familiar sounds of wind flying past swift shinobi—

His bright eyes widened slightly as the familiar red, blonde, black and silver streaks passed over him, said four shinobi stopping and landing a few feet away from him.

Namikaze Minato smiled kindly, but it was obviously guarded and prepared. "Sorry to bother you, sir, but have you seen a thirteen year old Uchiha alike boy around?"

Shu tipped his head slightly. Seeing four people he hated with a passion within feet of his body made his hands shake with rage. Of course, his rage didn't show—but no emotion could ever be showed on his scarred face ever again.

 _Speaking of scars_ , he thought, _they're planning something…or the yellow eyes are throwing them off. It's most likely the latter._ "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't keep note of those kind of things."

"Bummer," Koshō spoke up. Her eyebrows creased into a deep frown, confusion and knowledge showing. "Because we're looking at him."

Shu really wasn't surprised. He hadn't intended to hide.

Kushina's eyebrows knitted together vehemently, a dark, scary look crossing her face. She pointed at him with an accusing finger, her teeth gritting together in frustration.

Internally, he grinned. It was familiar.

"You're Uchiha Obito."

* * *

 ***dies***

 **aAAH.**

 **Now, I'm not a heart expert. But I did what research I could and put it together to explain in the simplest way I could possibly put it.**

 **BTW I PUT A STUPID ASS POLL UP ON MY PROFILE SO GIVE ME ATTENTION AND VOTE?**

 **Next time: "With Your Head In A Box"…**

 **Peace! :3**


End file.
